Riding the Factor 001 - it's a £21,000 bicycle!

How does the Factor 001, an ultra-high-performance bicycle worth £21,000,
compare to a £350 Raleigh

When the Factor 001 bicycle was delivered to my house for a weekend loan, snow was lying thick on the ground in the Scottish hills where I live.

Thank you, Lord! It guaranteed that I couldn't possibly ride this ultra-high- performance bike with its razor-edge Fizik Antares saddle for the rest of the day.

Alas, a rapid thaw on Sunday left me no alternative but to take the gleaming, pearlescent white thing out on the road.

Never have I been more intimidated by a machine. In the past, I have driven cars worth millions and ridden 200+ mph motorbikes without a frisson of apprehension, but the Factor 001 made my legs tremble.

It wasn't just the thought that I might crash and crack its twin-vane carbon composite frame that had me worried, nor the prospect that it might get pinched overnight from our garage (I insisted on parking the bike in our living-room while we slept).

What most distressed me was the feeling that it totally outclassed me. I normally ride (and love) a 15 year-old Raleigh M-Trax that originally cost about £350.

What business had I with a £21,000 bicycle, each of which takes six engineers a week to build?

This sense of inferiority - something like scoring a date with Claudia Schiffer and then being too terrified to turn up - was abundantly confirmed the moment I mounted the Factor 001.

Its tiny pedals are designed to connect with cleats in the soles of cycling shoes - which I do not possess.

Its Shimano D12 electronic gear shift is operated with levers concealed in the housings for the brake levers - a system so sophisticated that I could barely work it out.

Its hydraulically assisted carbon ceramic brakes are so powerful they feel as if they will pitch you over the wheels with the faintest touch.

In fact, the whole thing instantly communicated a sense of live responsiveness, from its 20mm wide high-pressure tyres and eight-spoke carbon composite wheels to the most minimal pressures on pedals or handlebars.

I have ridden throughbred racehorses that felt something like this. They were too good for me, too.

Recognising then, that the Factor 001 is most definitely not for me, I had to ask what kind of people might buy it.

John Bailey of BERU f1systems, makers of the Factor 001, couldn't be exactly sure because he hasn't sold any of them yet.

"We don't anticipate making or selling very many, not more than a few hundred. Most will go to organisations and institutions responsible for training and looking after elite athletes."

Will any individuals buy this bike? "Oh, er, collectors, high networth individuals," Bailey said airily.

Fairly ordinary people do, however, pay extraordinary prices for bicycles which they use quite normally. The latest Double Pylon model from Moulton costs £14,500.

One of its owners is the television scriptwriter Christopher Penfold, the author of Midsomer Murders.

Penfold bought his Moulton because, "I had always wanted one and had reached the stage in life where I felt I deserved a treat."

Penfold is riding round the coastline of Britain in stages and uses the Moulton because "it's so beautifully engineered and so comfortable, the perfect bike for my time of life.

"I have never for a second regretted the cost. You might as well ask why people buy a Leica or a Rolex."

The Factor 001 is far from being the most expensive bicycle in the world. The gold-plated Aurumania bicycle "with Swarowski hotspot jewels" costs €80,000. I'll stick to my Raleigh.